MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! I AM GOING TO BED NOW TO AWAIT SANTA CLAUSE (not that I really believe in him…I mean come on, I'm in college) AND THEN TOMORROW I WILL OPEN MY PRESENTS, AND SO HERE IS MY PRESENT TO ALL OF YOU—2 UPDATES IN 2 DAYS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

MOLLY, MICAH, NIKI

NEW YORK

"Mom, I can't find my backpack!" Micah wandered through their average-sized apartment, searching for his bag.

"Micah, I feel like we have this conversation every day." Niki cut him off in the hallway on the way to the kitchen. "You know, for being such a genius, you'd think you'd be better at keeping track of your things."

"I can't help it!" He protested. "It's just always disappearing on me."

"Your backpack isn't magical Micah, it doesn't go anywhere, you misplace it." Niki helped her son continue his search around the apartment. "Maybe you left it at school yesterday."

"No, I had it last night, because I was doing my homework."

"Right," Niki gripped her cup of coffee more tightly so she wouldn't spill it while bending down to look behind the sofa. "Have you asked Molly? Maybe she got it mixed up with her stuff."

"She's still asleep," Micah told his mom.

"Seriously?" Niki glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "She's going to be late for school if she doesn't get up soon!" She hurried down the hallway to Micah's bedroom where Molly was sleeping for the time being; the kids switched off weeks on the couch and this was Micah's week. "Molly, sweetheart," Niki tapped on the bedroom door as she twisted the door handle and pushed on the door.

The room was still dark since heavy curtains were blocking out the morning sunlight, but from the light in the hallway, Niki could see that Molly was still sleeping soundly in the bed. She shook her head at the girl's lethargy.

"Molly, you have to get up! You're going to be late." Niki moved further into the room. "Sweetie, wake up." When Molly still didn't stir, Niki sat down on the bed and placed a hand over Molly's arm. "Molly?" Instead of waking, the girl's body started to tremble, her skin felt moist beneath Niki's hand, and she was emitting small whimpers. "Molly, please wake up…" Niki started panicking. She had heard of Molly's nightmares, of course, but she had never witnessed one at its peak before; she didn't know what to do to help Molly out of it. She tried to remember what Claire had told her, but she was too nervous at the moment to think about it.

"Mom, is everything okay?" Micah peered into the bedroom when his mom hadn't come back out.

"Micah, I need you to call Claire for me," she instructed. "Call her right now and tell her that Molly's having a nightmare, and I can't wake her up."

Micah nodded and sprinted down the hallway to retrieve the phone from the kitchen. Niki remained in the bedroom, still doing her best to wake Molly, but Molly's slight whimpers had started developing into short bursts of screaming. Her body was no longer trembling, but was now entirely stiff with tension.

"No!" Molly screamed loudly, despite her deep slumber. "Stop it!"

Niki grasped Molly's hand tightly, still pleading desperately with the girl to wake up, even though she knew it wouldn't do any good.

Micah came running back into the room with the phone in his hand. "Claire says that you have to wake her up. Do whatever it takes!"

"I don't know what that means," Niki complained.

In the next moment though, Molly had sat up, wide awake, and screaming wildly.

"What's wrong?" Niki asked instantly.

Molly continued to scream, but she took a breath long enough to squeak out: "he's back!"

"Who's back sweetie?"

"He's back," Molly gasped, and then fell silent.

"Mom…" Micah hesitated in the doorway; his eyes were focused on Molly who was staring straight ahead, but she didn't seem to see anything.

"I need to talk to Matt…" Molly said at last.

"Matt? Matt Parkman?" Niki clarified.

Molly nodded. "Right now."

"Well, sweetheart, I don't know how easy that will be," Niki glanced at the clock on the bedside table. "Plus you need to get ready for school, if you think you'll be well enough to go." She reconsidered quickly. "Maybe you should just stay home today and rest. I could write a note for you…"

"I need to talk to Matt, he'll know what to do."

Niki realized that Molly wasn't going to calm down until she got what she wanted, so she nodded and stood. "I'll be right back, okay? I have his phone number written down in the kitchen. Will you be okay for a minute alone?" Molly nodded and Niki headed out, but she stopped in the hallway to talk to her son. "Micah, watch her."

He nodded obediently and hung by the door of the bedroom, staying out, but keeping his eyes glued to Molly in case anything else went wrong.

HIRO

NEW YORK

Once he had arrived successfully back in the time that he belonged in, Hiro's first step was to check a newspaper and make sure he had in fact teleported to the right time. He didn't want to make the assumption without being sure. The paper informed him that it was the first week of March, which meant he had been in the past for nearly four months. He couldn't imagine all that he had missed in his own time. He had no idea how he would explain his absence to people who knew nothing about his ability.

He didn't have time to worry about that though, because he had a mission. The Princess had given him strict instructions to change the future—to save it. What she hadn't told him, was what he was supposed to be saving it from. Hiro knew that he would need help if he intended to change the future, as Kaori had instructed him. His instincts told him to find Peter. Peter had helped saved the world before; he would undoubtedly know how to save it this time. Finding him though, would be difficult. Hiro had never contacted Peter himself; Peter always contacted him.

Ando would know what to do, Hiro reminded himself, smiling for the first time since he had rematerialized in the city. He had almost forgotten how much he missed his best friend, while he had been stuck in the 1600s. I have so much to tell him! He won't believe that I got to train with the Takezo Kensei! Since Hiro had teleported to New York—the same spot he had left from in Kirby Plaza—he needed to find a pay phone to call Ando who he assumed would still be in Japan.

The sun was already low in the sky; twilight had started to settle over the city. People still bustled about the sidewalks, jostling against each other in their haste to move on to whatever individual destinations they were pursuing. Hiro stepped out into the crowd, letting the herd carry him along.

A block down, he spotted a payphone on the corner and darted out of the throng of people. He had just reached the phone when he felt someone crash into him. He fell against the glass telephone booth and looked around, but he couldn't see anybody. He wondered if he had just imagined the strange impact, but in another moment a man had materialized, seemingly out of the air.

"Sorry to startle you, mate!" The man offered Hiro a slight grin.

"You…" Hiro gaped at the man. "How…you…"

"Don't look so confused," the man said. "I know who you are, Hiro. And you shouldn't be so shocked to meet an invisible man."

"You can make yourself invisible?" Hiro asked; he then realized that was why he hadn't been able to see the man when he had first bumped into him.

"Yes, and you can travel through space and time. Aren't we special?" The man stuck out his hand and grinned. "My name's Claude, and I need your help, mate."

MATT, NIKI, MOLLY

NEW YORK

"I got here as fast I as I could," Matt told Niki the moment she opened the door to let him in to the apartment. "How is she?"

Niki's eyes were bloodshot; she had been trying hard not to cry. "I don't know what's wrong with her. She hasn't moved since I called you. She won't speak to me, or anything. She looks terrified." Niki pressed her hands to her forehead and then pulled her fingers through her hair. "I'm so scared…I just don't know what to do for her!"

"Where is she? Let me talk to her…" Matt touched Niki's shoulder gently. He could see how much she had grown to care for the young girl, and he understood how difficult it must be for her to suffer because of Molly's sufferings.

"She's still in the bedroom…" Niki led the way down the hall to the bedroom and then ushered Matt in. She stayed out of the room, but hovered by the door within hearing distance.

"Molly," Matt knelt beside the bed where Molly sat. Her knees were tucked into her chest and she was rocking back and forth. "Molly, it's me…it's Matt…Niki said you wanted to see me."

Molly looked at Matt; her round eyes were brimming over with tears. "Matt!" She flung her thin arms around his neck and let herself cry. "He's back Matt…he's come back and he's going to find me…"

"Who's back?" Matt asked. He spoke in a whisper, trying to keep her calm, while his hands soothingly ran up and down her back. "Molly, I need you to talk to me and tell me what's going on, so I can try and help you." He stood up so he could sit on the bed with her, but she still didn't let go of him. "Niki said you had a nightmare. Were you trapped again? Claire's told me about the man who sometimes won't let you wake up. Is that who you're talking about?"

Molly finally broke her hold on Matt and sat back. She shook her head. "I was in a nightmare, but he's not the one I'm scared of right now."

"Can you tell me what you're so afraid of Molly?" He asked softly. "Tell me what you saw in your dream."

Molly took a deep breath and nodded. She was still trembling slightly, but Matt held onto her hands to reassure her. "First it was like always. He made me see people…lots of people that I didn't know…and he showed me what he could do to hurt them. Then he tried to make me locate Peter. He still can't find him, so at least that's good." She almost smiled, but it didn't stick. "Then he showed me more people…" She stopped.

"And then what?" Matt prodded her. "Who did you see?"

"He showed me the boogeyman!"

"Sylar?" Matt questioned. "Is that who you mean? You saw Sylar?"

Molly nodded. "I knew he wasn't dead. Claire told me so, but he's been gone for so long I thought he would never come back…"

"What else did he show you?" Matt knew that Sylar was alive. Claire had told him a while ago, but like Molly he had almost forgotten about him since it had been so long since Sylar had shown up.

"Nothing…I think he just wanted me to know that Sylar was coming back."

"You keep saying 'back'. Where was he?"

"I don't know," Molly shut her eyes for a minute to concentrate. She wasn't trying to locate him, just remember what she had seen in her dream. "I think he was out of the country, but he's back now…back in New York."

Matt's hand trembled a little as he reached out to grasp Molly's hand. "It's okay. He's not going to hurt you."

"How do you know?" Molly leaned forward so she could snuggle against Matt's chest; he wrapped his arms around her to offer comfort.

"Because I'm going to protect you, and Niki, and Claire, and Peter…" He kissed the top of her head. "You've got a whole team of people to take care of you. Sylar is not going to get anywhere near you! You trust us, don't you?"

She nodded. "I'm just scared."

"I know you are," Matt glanced to Niki who was still in the doorway. "And anytime you're afraid and you need someone to talk to, you know you can always call me. I'll be here in a second. And Niki's always here for you too, of course."

Niki took that as her invitation into the room and she quickly came to sit on Molly's other side. "Of course I'm here for you sweetheart," she rubbed a hand down the girl's back. "We're not going to let anyone hurt you."

Molly broke away from Matt in order to turn and give Niki a hug. "Thank you, but it's not me I'm worried about."

"Who are you worried about then?"

"The woman."

"What woman?" Niki and Matt both asked.

"I saw a woman with the boogeyman. She doesn't know what he is! She's in danger."

"Do you know who the woman is, Molly?" Matt inquired.

"I've never seen her before," Molly told him. "She was very pretty, and she had red hair. I don't know who she is though."

"We'll figure it out, sweetheart." Niki assured her. "We'll find this woman and we'll protect her from the bad guy."

"Promise?" Molly asked—her eyes were wide.

Niki glanced at Matt who nodded and gave the answer: "Yea, we promise."

A/N: Okay, so I realize that I've probably been a little inconsistent with my timeline, vs. the show, so I'm going to explain my vision right now. After the 'bomb' in NY, it was November. The group then just sort of hung around for a while, trying to understand everything and get their lives together. That took about a month. Claire, Micah, & Molly started school during the Spring semester, so it was about January when they started. They've now been at school for a little over a month. Claire is a junior—Molly and Micah are in the same grade, which I think would be like fifth? I don't know what grade ten year olds are in. Everyone is in the same timeline. I hope this helps a little.